Yesterday I was watching the History Channel. There was a two-hour documentary called Blood Diamond. It chronicled the history of diamond mining in Africa, and what lead to the conflicts in Angola and Sierra Leone/Liberia over the last decade or so. The documentary is very well produced and really informative, but often hard to watch the footage of all kinds of carnage that took place against people caught in between the political/financial gluttony of a few.

As I well know, Liberia and Sierra Leone were established as countries by the US, France and Great Britain to re-patriate (formerly i guess) enslaved blacks in the Diaspora back to the continent in the 19th century. Well I had never thought about the possibility of my own family members possibly being among those who left the US to go to West Africa.

That is, until last night.

As I was watching Blood Diamond, and during one segment when they were interviewing a woman fromSierra Leone, in what appeared to be a small village. She was telling her storyof having been raped and beaten by army and/or militia men. While she was speaking, her name across the bottom of the screen: Musu Farrow.

Farrow is not a common last name in the US (though it is somewhat in the UK). Basically, there are Farrows in NE Ohio and Western Pennsylvania. If they’re black, they’re related to me. There are also a lot of “Farrows” in the Carolinas. One of the major roads in Columbia, SC is Farrow Rd. A paternal great-grandfather was from South Carolina, and had migrated to Western PA where my paternal grandfather and father were born. The first time I went to Columbia, I thought, “The Farrows must have owned a lot of slaves.”

I do not know for sure if this mahogany brown woman (with small almond eyes like my younger sister) is at all a distant blood relative. For years I have wanted to research my genealogy, and both sides of my families feel as though I am the one to do it (because I am a writer, I suppose). But as she may or may not be a relative, it did awaken in me a series of questions, those inaudible voices about who we are and what happened to us, that I think that every African in the diaspora is continuously haunted by.

Have you heard about Africom? Yeah, me neither, not until a week or so ago when I was listening to Africa Today, a daily BBC podcast about Africa. It’s only 15minutes, and the only descent podcast on Africa I can find reported by Africans and interviewing Africans. They were interviewing Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and asked her about Liberia’s bidding on a contract to be one of the West African Nation’s that gets a new military base.

Anyhow, to learn about Africom, look at the FAQ’s in the website for this new government military program.

What is AFRICOM?
The United States Africa Command, also known as AFRICOM, is a new U.S. military headquarters devoted solely to Africa. AFRICOM is the result of an internal reorganization of the U.S. military command structure, creating one administrative headquarters that is responsible to the Secretary of Defense for U.S. military relations with 53 African countriesWhat is U.S. Africa Command designed to do?
U.S. Africa Command will better enable the Department of Defense and other elements of the U.S. government to work in concert and with partners to achieve a more stable environment in which political and economic growth can take place. U.S. Africa Command is consolidating the efforts of three existing headquarters commands into one that is focused solely on Africa and helping to coordinate US government contributions on the continent.

What is Africa Command’s focus?
Unlike traditional Unified Commands, Africa Command will focus on war prevention rather than war-fighting. Africa Command intends to work with African nations and African organizations to build regional security and crisis-response capacity in support of U.S. government efforts in Africa. Through October 2008, Africa Command will gradually assume control over existing U.S. government programs, currently administered by U.S. Central Command, U.S. European Command and U.S. Pacific Command.

Why is the Department of Defense creating the command?
Africa is growing in military, strategic and economic importance in global affairs. However, many nations on the African continent continue to rely on the international community for assistance with security concerns. From the U.S. perspective, it makes strategic sense to help build the capability for African partners, and organizations such as the Africa Standby Force, to take the lead in establishing a secure environment. This security will, in turn, set the groundwork for increased political stability and economic growth.

Anyhow, the first press I have seen about it in the US is in The Nation. Danny Glover and Nicole C. Lee write an aricle called Say No To Africom.

With little scrutiny from Democrats in Congress and nary a whimper of protest from the liberal establishment, the United States will soon establish permanent military bases in sub-Saharan Africa. An alarming step forward in the militarization of the African continent, the US Africa Command (Africom) will oversee all US military and security interests throughout the region, excluding Egypt. Africom is set to launch by September 2008 and the Senate recently confirmed Gen. William “Kip” Ward as its first commander. General Ward told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Africom would first seek “African solutions to African problems.” His testimony made Africom sound like a magnanimous effort for the good of the African people. In truth Africom is a dangerous continuation of US military expansion around the globe. Such foreign-policy priorities, as well as the use of weapons of war to combat terrorist threats on the African continent, will not achieve national security. Africom will only inflame threats against the United States, make Africa even more dependent on external powers and delay responsible African solutions to continental security issues.

General Ward told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Africom would first seek “African solutions to African problems.” His testimony made Africom sound like a magnanimous effort for the good of the African people. In truth Africom is a dangerous continuation of US military expansion around the globe. Such foreign-policy priorities, as well as the use of weapons of war to combat terrorist threats on the African continent, will not achieve national security. Africom will only inflame threats against the United States, make Africa even more dependent on external powers and delay responsible African solutions to continental security issues.